Rumors of a BMW M1 successor having been swirling ever since the company introduced the M1 Hommage concept at the 2008 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, but a new report is indicating the automaker will finally launch a supercar in 2016.

Rumors of a BMW M1 successor have been swirling ever since the company introduced the M1 Hommage concept at the 2008 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, but a new report is indicating the automaker will finally launch a supercar in 2016.

Designed to celebrate the company's 100th anniversary, the production model will reportedly adopt the M8 moniker instead of the iconic M1 name. Little else is known about the car but it could ride on a modified version of the carbon fiber and aluminum architecture that underpins the i8. This would help to spread out development costs as well as enable the model to be relatively lightweight.